Open letter to Nina Disesa

2.7.08

Nina DiSesa, chairman
McCann Erickson, New York

Greetings, Mrs. DiSesa. As a 17-year creative vet in the industry I found your 1/28 column in ADWEEK to be very provocative and insightful. And because it read more like an open letter, I felt compelled to offer a letter of response:

In the spirit of the questions you posed regarding the progress of women in our business, I’d like to begin with a few questions for you:

• How many Black account directors are there at GM advertising agencies?

• How many Black women are creative directors in GM agencies of any scale?

• How many Black women are running advertising agencies—name on the masthead or not?

• How many Black women or Black Males have P&L responsibilities that indicate real control and authority?

• How many black agencies are allowed to compete for AOR status in pitches?

• How many GM agencies still treat their “sister” ethnic shops as assistants forcing them to simply translate GM ideas for ethnic consumers?

• How many agencies still treat recruiting of and retention of ethnic professionals as charity work—some sort of feel good project to engage in after all our “real work has been done,” or simply as a way of avoiding EEOC investigations and jesse Jackson marches?

• How many agencies continually produce work featuring stereotypical at worst shallow at best representations of black consumers only to write-off consumer criticism as “political correctness run amok?

• In a marketplace of +300 million with over 100 million being of African American/Black, Hispanic, and/or Asian descent and spending a combined $2.7 Trillion annually, why does Madison Ave still treats diversity as only relevant to "blondes, brunettes, and redheads?

• In an industry that claims to be hungry for talent from all backgrounds why is the industry still comprised of over 90% white male and white females?

I have other questions, but i feel these give you a flavor of where I'm going. I also ask these specific questions of you because after 17 years as a pretty successful creative at both general market and ethnic shops—I’ve yet to see issues of diversity (or lack thereof) addressed outside of Black History Month.

I’ve heard a lot about “women” and glass ceilings” over the years, but it always seems to be in relation to white women. It’s as if white women are the only women who matter in our business and marketplace, and unless we go out of our way to specify and identity ethnic woman of color as “women, too”, they’re expected to follow lockstep with white women or be ignored. (Assuming their names aren’t Oprah, Halle or Mary J Blige.)

I’m just curious as to your thoughts on these questions, as I feel the industry's ability to address these issues are tied to the future success of the industry at large.

Thanks again for your time.

--
Until then...

keep gettin' out from under,

BCanseco

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